An Analysis of Law in the Marxist Tradition

The purpose of this work is to construct theoretically a regulatory system based on the writings of a selection of Marxist legal theorists (Marx, Engels, Stuchka, Reisner and Pashukanis), ascertain whether such a system might be considered law, and determine whether or not there is a legitimate claim for a ""socialist jurisprudence"". Both theoretical constructs and historical examples are used during the course of discussion. The results indicate that there is a viable alternative to law which does not ignore the regulatory needs of society and is compatible with the Marxist critique of the legal order. It fills the gap existing in the literature of ""socialist law"" and articulates a system of social regulation that can be considered non-legal (thus making it compatible with Marxist theory). To this date, such an attempt to define theoretically a regulatory system in communism compatible with the writings of Marx and Engels has not been made.